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Phoenix Suns

The Shaq/Kobe rivalry reaches new heights

Some of us were actually naïve enough to believe that the feud between Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal was squashed. What fools. These guys still loathe each other with a passion and they will be rivals for the remainder of their careers, nay, their lives. Kobe wants to earn a ring on his own so badly he can taste it (or is that Shaq’s ass that he loves tasting?) and he’s willing to do almost anything to get one. This year he was even desperate enough to involve his teammates. The Diesel, on the other hand, is still the face of the league on a very talented squad and he’s already raised a trophy without KB. So, now he’s just trying to outdo Bryant in other, more important areas of life, like jumping over stuff. It’s not a speeding Aston Martin or a kiddie pool full of snakes, but it’s a start.

By the looks of his new crib, the Daddy definitely underwent a little downsizing following his costly divorce.

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Phoenix Suns

Kobe Bryant needs a whole lotta Scope after Shaq’s latest rap

Everyone and their momma knew Shaquille O’Neal was wetting himself in glee after the Boston Celtics disposed of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals last week. However, we actually hoped Shaq was going to take the high road on this one, choosing not to remind Kobe that he couldn’t win the big one without the Big Aristotle. Of course, that would mean Shaq doesn’t hold grudges and we all know that isn’t true. So, in reality, it was only a matter of time before O’Neal let loose on his former teammate, but we never expected it to come in the form of freestyle.

Mean spirited or playful banter? You be the judge. The only thing we know for certain is that the phrase “Kobe, tell me how my ass tastes” has officially become the most hilarious seven words ever uttered in the world of sports.

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Phoenix Suns

Shaq will do almost anything for a ring

Phoenix’s trade for Shaquille O’Neal didn’t exactly work like they hoped it would. Instead of hoisting another trophy over his head, Shaq is instead, sitting at home after the Spurs sent Phoenix packing after the first round. Quite frankly, we miss the big fella. O’Neal is always the life of the party and without him we just feel empty inside, especially when the press conference’s coming rolling around.

See more funny videos at CollegeHumor

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Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: Finally time to smile


1. Suns start climbing out of their hole
It took four games and over a week of playoff basketball, but the Suns finally grabbed their first victory of the postseason. After getting pummeled in Game 3, Phoenix returned the favor on Sunday, spanking San Antonio by 19 points, 105-86, leading the entire contest. Raja Bell scored a game-high 27 points and Boris Diaw was a pair of assists shy of recording a triple-double, posting 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in place of Grant Hill who didn’t play. Amare Stoudemire was off target all game, connecting on only 3-of-11 shots for seven points and Steve Nash recorded a mere four assists, but the Suns were still able to build leads that reached 32 points. Tony Parker was the Spurs biggest scorer, tallying 18 points after posting a playoff career-high of 41 points in Game 3. San Antonio must now wait until Tuesday for another chance to close out the series at home.

2. Last second heartbreak in Washington

The Wizards hung tough for 47 minutes and 44 seconds, but then Delonte West delivered the dagger. With 5.4 seconds left in a tie game, West gave LeBron James a break and hit the game-winning 3-pointer to give Cleveland a 100-97 victory and a 3-1 lead in the series. James was on fire once again, posting 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists to go with a blow to the head from DeShawn Stevenson. Stevenson smacked LBJ toward the end of the opening half and it looked like fists would fly between the two momentarily, but cooler heads prevailed. However, Stevenson could be in for some repercussions after the league reviews the flagrant foul. It’s been a physical series thus far and Wednesday’s Game 4 should be no different even if Stevenson can’t suit up.

3. Up and down, up and down
After dropping Game 1 at home and Game 3 in Philly, the Pistons tied up their series against the 76ers by taking a 93-84 win on the road. Tayshaun Prince led Detroit with 23 points, backed by Rasheed Wallace’s 20-point, 10-assist double-double while Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups posted 18 points and seven assists apiece. The Pistons struggled against their seventh-seeded opponents again in the first half, but they bounced back after the break, outscoring Philly 34-16 in the third quarter to go from 10 down to eight up. The Sixers finished with six players in double-figures on offense; unfortunately, Thaddeus Young led the squad with a measly 15 points. Andre Iguodala raised his series average to 10.5 points per game by posting 12 on Sunday in yet another pathetic playoff performance.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: LeBron James @ Washington 44 min, 34 pts (FG: 11-25, 3FG: 3-8, FT: 9-14), 12 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl

Buzzer Beater: Dallas desperately needed to win Game 4 against New Orleans to gain some momentum to climb out of a 0-2 hole. No such luck. David West led Nawlins with 24 points and nine rebounds while Peja Stojakovic scored 19 and Chris Paul appeared to actually be human with 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the 97-84 win. The Hornets now have a strangle hold on the series, leading 3-1 with Game 4 coming on Tuesday evening in the Hive. Dallas is spiraling out of control as a franchise quickly. The first home loss to New Orleans since January of 1998 is only the tip of the Mavericks problems. Josh Howard went 3-of-16 from the field after calling half the league potheads and admitting to getting stoned in the offseason. American Airlines Arena was devoid of virtually all fans for over half of the final period. The city is beginning to call for the head of Avery Johnson and the team has quite possibly literally lost their testicles since planning a parade when they went up 2-0 on Miami in the Finals two years ago. Hope you enjoyed it while it lasted Big D because at this rate people will be wearing grocery sacks over their heads to the games once again. Ah, the good ol’ days.

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Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: Big time battle in the Lone Star State


1. Suns rise to the occasion
With 12 minutes left in the game, San Antonio looked like they might once again crush the hopes of the Suns, but Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Nash didn’t allow that to happen. Phoenix ran out of SA with a 96-79 victory after outscoring the Spurs 24-11 in the fourth quarter. Shaq recorded half of his 16 points in the period and two-time MVP Nash scored eight of his 12 points (10 ast) to win the season-series 3-1. The Suns are still sitting in sixth place, but with the victory they are now just ½ a game away from catching San Antonio, currently second, in the standings. As always, the bad blood was flowing throughout the contest, culminating in the furious fourth quarter when Bruce Bowen sent a forearm into the chest of Amare Stoudemire as the Suns forward set a pick at halfcourt. Guess who got called dirty after the game.

Bruce came elbow first. Elbowed me right in my rib cage,” Stoudemire said. “You know, definitely wasn’t a basketball play on his part and I reacted. I definitely didn’t appreciate it. So, I let him know about it.

2. Hornets romp the T-Wolves

The Hornets needed a win over Minnesota in order to maintain their lead over the rest of the West and, of course, they got it. Using a 41-point, third-quarter outburst, followed by 33 points in the fourth, New Orleans cruised to a 122-90 victory, grabbing its team-best 55th win. Chris Paul was back to his old tricks, posting 19 points and 16 assists while Peja Stojakovic finished with 24 and David West scored 22. It’s starting to look more and more like the Hornets are really going to grab the top seed in the West after missing the second season entirely last year. Byron Scott won’t get the coach of the year award over Doc Rivers this season, but the guy has got to get some credit for his abilities. He helped turn around the Nets when he was there and he’s shocked the world this season by taking his Bugs from worst to first.

3. Wiz continues to improve
Boston doesn’t have much to play for as the season comes to a close, but Washington certainly does. Thanks to a 109-95 home floor victory, Washington is now just two games behind a struggling Cleveland squad. The Wizards would love to steal homecourt advantage in the playoffs away from the Cavs and surprise the league with a deep run. It might sound crazy, but with a healthy roster and a raucous crowd, the Wiz could be in line for some a serious magic act. Antawn Jamison double-doubled with 27 points and 11 rebounds while Caron Butler scored 13 to go with 10 assists. Gilbert Arenas came off the bench to post 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting. The Celtics got 63 points out of their Big Three, but couldn’t recover from a 27-18 spanking in the third quarter.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: Chris Bosh vs. Milwaukee 40 min, 32 pts (FG: 11-18, 3FG: 1-2, FT: 9-11), 11 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl, 4 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: Denver (47-13) @ Golden State (47-31)
Sure, Utah and Dallas are hooking it up in a battle of the West’s big boys, but the big game tonight comes from the worst of the conference’s best. The Nuggets and Warriors are sporting identical records, but thanks to a tiebreaker, the Nuggets are currently holding the last playoff spot. Of course, that might not last long because Denver isn’t nearly as good on the road (16-23) as they are at home (31-8). And we all know what an overwhelming atmosphere Golden State can be after watching the crowds go wild in last year’s postseason. If you want a preview of playoff intensity then this is the place to be.

Buzzer Beater: In the “no duh!” moment of the day, O.J. Mayo declared that he is forgoing the remainder of his eligibility at USC in order to go pro. Mayo is expected to go in the first 10 picks and there’s no doubt that he will make some sorry team very, very happy. The freshman led the Trojans to a first round defeat at the hands of fellow phenomenal freshman Michael Beasley and his Wildcats by posting team-highs of 20.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Unlike his college coach, we should expect big things from Mayo in the NBA.

This comes as no surprise,” coach Tim Floyd said in the statement. “We are appreciative of everything O.J. did for all of us the year he was with us. We wish him well. I have no doubt that he will be a great professional.

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Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: Feeling it in Phoenix


1. Suns run and run and run
The Nuggets exploded for 39 points in the first quarter last night and appeared to be well on their way to win by halftime with a 19-point advantage. But then the Suns rallied. Phoenix posted 81 points in the second half, including 46 in the fourth, to erase a lead that grew to 22 and win 132-117. Coupled with a Dallas victory over the Clippers, the loss slid Denver out of the playoff picture once again, leaving them ½ game behind Golden State for the final slot out West. Amare Stoudemire finished with a game-high 41 points and 14 rebounds to keep the Suns in the hunt for homecourt advantage in the playoffs’ opening round, tying the Lakers for the Pacific Division lead, but remaining fifth overall due to a tiebreaker. Phoenix also got double-doubles out of Shaquille O’Neal (20 pts, 12 reb) and Raja Bell (15 pts, 10 reb).

2. Jazz blast

C.J. Miles finally had his big coming-out party. Uh, not like that; we mean his on-court coming-out party. The 21-year-old who skipped out on playing for Texas to be the 34th pick in the second round of the 2005 draft scored a career-high 29 points to lead Utah past Washington 129-87. For those of you without a calculator handy, that’s 42-point blowout! The Jazz sank a team-high 15 treys while connecting on 50-of-84 shots overall and getting 40 assists. Deron Williams was responsible for 16 of those dimes to go along with 12 points and Mehmet Okur finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. After dropping an overtime game to the Lakers on Sunday, the Wizards just didn’t have anything left in the tank. And it showed. Washington managed just six fastbreak points and committed 14 turnovers against an undermanned Jazz squad that didn’t have Andrei Kirilenko due to a calf injury.

3. Pacers pop Miami
The season’s end just can’t get here fast enough for the Heat. Their season of futility and frustration continued last night with a 20-point blowout by the Pacers, 105-85. Miami dropped to 13-61 on the year with tough impossible contests against New Orleans and Detroit looming on the schedule. Things are getting so ugly in South Beach that the Heat just might break the franchise record for fewest wins in a season. Pretty hard to believe, but they were actually worse in their inaugural season of 1988-89, totaling just 15 wins for the entire year. Luckily, Pat Riley re-signed Blake Ahearn and Stephane Lasme to a pair of new 10-day contracts. All right, enough about the losers; Jermaine O’Neal made his return to the Indiana lineup after missing 33 consecutive games, scoring nine points in 18 minutes.

Monday’s Player of the Day: Amare Stoudemire vs. Denver 42 min, 41 pts (FG: 12-22, FT: 17-19), 14 reb, 2 ast, 2 stl

Tuesday’s Game to Watch: Phoenix (50-24) @ Denver (45-29)
One day later and the game is twice as nice. If you enjoyed yesterday’s battle between the Suns and Nuggets then you’ll love the rematch tonight because with one less day remaining in the season, the race for Western Conference playoff positioning is even more intense. Expect another run-n-gun shootout between these two.

Buzzer Beater: The Lopez twins threw their names in the NBA draft on Monday and, not surprisingly, even their reasons why are virtually identical.

I have always hoped I would have an opportunity to play in the NBA and I feel now is the right time to make that dream a reality,” Robin Lopez said in a statement released to the AP.

“It is the dream of every basketball player to play and succeed in the NBA and I feel I am ready to take on this new challenge,” Brook Lopez said.

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Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: That’s Amare!


1. The Suns can still run
There was some serious doubt about whether Shaquille O’Neal could physically keep up against the Warriors. Well, he couldn’t, but the Suns didn’t need him to. Shaq spent most of the evening in foul trouble, finishing with nine points and 14 rebounds, but Amare Stoudemire more than made up for the Big Cactus’ off night by scoring 36 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and blocking four shots in a 123-115 victory. The Suns were smoking hot shooting the ball, converting 45-of-82 for a blistering 55 percent field goal percentage. Steve Nash was key down the stretch, scoring eight consecutive points for the Suns at one point in the fourth quarter, finishing with 21 points and 13 assists. Baron Davis missed tying his career-high by two points, producing 38 in the loss as Golden State continues to hold onto the eighth spot in the West, sitting two games ahead of Denver.

2. Shining Wizards

After missing 16 games with a hip injury, Caron Butler returned to the Wizards roster on Thursday to score a team-high 19 points. Butler was on fire early, hitting six of his first eight shots, but it wasn’t the former All-Star’s quick start that sealed the 101-99 victory; rather, it was the Cavaliers horrible finish. Cleveland could only muster up 45 points in the entire second half after taking an eight-point lead into halftime. LeBron James posted 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, but it wasn’t all pretty as he committed seven turnovers. During the game, Gilbert Arenas said in a sideline interview that he was supposed to make his comeback against Cleveland, but the doctors nixed the idea prior to tipoff.

3. The Blaze get burned
Portland looked as they were destined to defy the odds a couple months, but after losing to the Kings last night, they simply look destined for the lottery. Sacramento lost two games in a row at home prior to knocking of the Blazers 96-85, but with the win the Kings are just four games behind Portland in the standings. Ron Artest led all scorers with 22 points to go with six steals while Brad Miller and Beno Udrih scored 14 apiece. Brandon Roy scored 21 for the Blazers who were a miserable 30-of-78 (.385) from the field while committing 27 fouls and giving up 19 turnovers.

Thursday’s Player of the Day: Baron Davis @ Phoenix 46 min, 38 pts (FG: 15-30, 3FG: 6-11, FT: 2-4), 9 reb, 8 ast, 3 stl, 1 blk

Friday’s Games to Watch: Tonight is such a big night in the Association, we just couldn’t limit ourselves to a single game. So, we’ve got four – yes, four – must-see contests lined up for your viewing pleasure.

Utah (43-23) @ Boston (51-12)
Carlos Boozer. Kevin Garnett. Deron Williams. Ray Allen. Paul Pierce. Andrei Kirilenko. Mehmet Okur. Rajon Rondo. Should we continue?

Los Angeles Lakers (45-19) @ New Orleans (43-20)
The Hornets just knocked off the Spurs by 25 points and now they’re welcoming the best of the West into their home hive. New Orleans is 23-10 on its own court, but the Lakers don’t care what court they’re playing on, posting a 20-10 record on the road.

San Antonio (44-20) @ Detroit (46-18)
It might not be the most edge-of-your-seat basketball matchup in the league, but it is a rematch of the 2005 Finals and a possible preview of the 2008 Finals. The Spurs must overcome their recent road woes on a court where the Pistons are 24-6 if they don’t want to slip further down the stacked West standings.

Charlotte (24-40) @ Houston (44-20)
A chunk of history will be on the line as the Rockets attempt to claim sole possession of the second longest winning streak in NBA history by knocking off their 21st consecutive opponent.

Buzzer Beater: Smush Parker was released by Miami earlier in the week and on Thursday he decided to return to Los Angeles. Unfortunately for Smush, he signed with the Clippers and not the Lakers. Talk about jumping out of the pan and into the fire. Sure, things might be slightly better in that other L.A. compared to Miami, but there certainly won’t be any celebrations in the streets any time soon. This is the sixth team for Parker in his short career.

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Phoenix Suns

Shaq parts the Suns bench like Moses parted the Red Sea

On Sunday, Shaquille O’Neal went airborne during the Suns/Spurs game, flying into the third row and popping some dude in the chops in the process. Well, the Phoenix bench saw this and rightfully learned from it, so when the Diesel came thundering toward the sideline on Tuesday night they knew exactly what to do…run and laugh!

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Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: Shaq’s Suns win West showdown


1. Making a statement
Phoenix finally got what it wanted out of the Shaquille O’Neal trade…defense. The normally run-first, think-second Suns relied of their defense in crunch time on Sunday afternoon and knocked off the defending champs as a result. O’Neal had his best all-around game as a Sun with 14 points, 16 rebounds and two blocks in a 94-87 victory. Phoenix still needs more time to fully gel with their new centerpiece, but this was defiantly the confidence boost it needed after starting the Shaq era 3-6. Despite Steve Nash’s team-high 19 points and game-high 14 assists, the rivalry game belonged to the Diesel. O’Neal came roaring out of the gate and collected a double-double by halftime, showing a little extra spring in his step all game long. The Daddy also joined Kareem-Abdul Jabaar and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to accumulate 26,000 points, 11,500 rebounds and 2,500 blocks in their career.

2. Lakers letdown

The Lakers let a perfect opportunity slip right through their hands. In a contest against the lowly Kings, Los Angeles watched in the final seconds as Beno Udrih converted a pair of free throws to give Sacramento a 114-113 victory over the best in the West. So, instead of putting a small buffer between themselves and the Spurs, the Lakers still sit just ½ game ahead of San Antonio. LA had a good showing, shooting 48 percent from the field and hitting eight 3-pointers, but Udrih’s double-double (25 pts, 10 ast) helped Sactown bounce back from an embarrassing loss to Minnesota. Kobe Bryant had a shot to win the game, but his jumper wasn’t true and he finished with a game-high 26 points.

3. Putting in work
Somehow Philadelphia managed to resurrect its season from the dead and now they are sitting in the seventh spot in the East. After losing to the Hawks on Feb. 4, Philly was a miserable 18-30, but since then the franchise has been straight ballin’, winning 12 of 15 games. On Sunday they extended their current win streak to four games by whooping the Bucks by 22 points, 119-97 in Milwaukee, bringing their record to a respectable 30-33. But the 76ers impressive streak could be coming to screeching halt. Tonight Philadelphia kicks off an 11-game stretch in its schedule that includes two games against Boston as well as contests against Detroit, San Antonio, Denver, Orlando, Phoenix and Cleveland.

Sunday’s Player of the Day: Pau Gasol vs. Sacramento 42 min, 25 pts (FG: 9-18, FT: 7-8), 7 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl, 2 blk

Monday’s Game to Watch: Denver (37-25) @ San Antonio (43-19)
Just a day after playing in a hard fought, highly competitive game against Phoenix, the Spurs have to turn around and line up across from a team desperate for a win. That’s just how it goes in the `must-win’ Western Conference. The Nuggets have some big wins under their belts recently, but they also have some painful losses; in all, it adds up to a non-playoff team at the moment. Denver knocked off San Antonio just a few days ago and they will need to repeat that performance if they plan to close the two-game gap between themselves and eighth place Golden State. Meanwhile, the Spurs aren’t sitting pretty by any means as they are dangerously close to being overtaken in the Southwest Division by either the Hornets or the red-hot Rockets.

Buzzer Beater: Hopefully Dwyane Wade fans aren’t sick of his commercials with Charles Barkley yet because that is the only place they’ll be seeing their favorite player. Wade is scheduled to undergo a procedure on his left knee this Tuesday, ending his season of gloom. At this point it really doesn’t matter anymore, but the question of throwing the season still has to come into play. The Heat are a horrible 11-51 which is just slightly worse than Minnesota (14-48) and Memphis (15-47). They’d probably finish with the league’s worst record with or without Wade, but we can’t blame Miami for doing an obvious tank job; after all, the freshman phenom Michael Beasley will most likely be the top player available in the draft.

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Phoenix Suns

Around the Rim: Same ol’ faces in new places


1. Shaq’s back
Shaquille O’Neal finally made his Phoenix debut on Wednesday night in a great game versus his old Lakers squad. Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant didn’t give a flip about his old running mate’s coming out party. Bryant exploded for 41 points to help Los Angeles knock off the Suns 130-124. Shaq finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in 29 minutes and looked surprisingly good. He was even diving for loose balls and running down court on fast break opportunities. All in all, it was a pretty nice debut for the “Big Cactus.” However, someone who always has nice games for Phoenix is Shaq’s understudy, Amare Stoudemire. In the loss, Stoudemire had a monster of a game, scoring 37 and grabbing 15 boards.

2. Some things never change

Jason Kidd didn’t win very many games in his first stint with Dallas. Obviously, today’s Mavs are just a little better, but to Kidd it was déjà vu all over again as the Hornets ran past Dallas 104-93. Kidd recorded eight points, five assists, six rebounds and six turnovers in the defeat, but Dirk Nowitizki managed to put up a nice performance of 31 points and eight rebounds. However, nothing could top Chris Paul’s output on this night. Paul had 31 points of his own to go with 11 assists, five rebounds and nine steals. Kidd might be the future of Dallas, but Paul proved he’s the point guard of the future.

3. Baron beats the buzzer
Boston was perfect against the Western Conference until the other night when they fell to Denver in Kevin Garnett’s return to the lineup. Now, thanks to Baron Davis’ buzzer-beater, you can make that two consecutive losses for the Cs. Davis buried a jumper with .3 seconds remaining to give his Warriors a 119-117 win at home. The point guard scored 29 in the contest while dishing out six assists and grabbing six boards. Monta Ellis had 26 to compliment Davis. For Boston, KG did what he could with a typical double-double of 17 points and 15 boards and he got plenty of help from Paul Pierce (23 pts) and Ray Allen (32 pts), but Davis just wouldn’t let Garnett pick up his first win since healing his injury.

Wednesday’s Player of the Day: LeBron James @ Indiana 43 min, 31 pts (FG: 11-22, 3FG: 1-5, FT: 8-12), 14 reb, 12 ast, 2 stl, 1 blk

Thursday’s Game to Watch: None
Don’t even bother watching any of the crummy games tonight. If anything, just tune into Inside the NBA. We guarantee it will be more entertaining than the on court action.

Buzzer Beater: New York fans were loosening up their vocal chords again on Wednesday, screaming for Isiah Thomas’ head once again as the Knicks were humiliated by the Sixers, losing by 40 points, 124-84. Frankly, we still don’t understand why Zeke has a job. Then again, they are the Knicks and it probably doesn’t matter who you stick into the head coaching seat – they are still going to look awful. Unless NY can pull off a Boston Celtics type trade and get LeBron James or Kobe Bryant before the trade deadline then you can expect at least a few more 35+ point losses this season.